On July 8, the shooting death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shocked the world. Footage from the scene showed that the suspect Toru Yamayama fired two shots at Abe from a distance of about three meters. He was controlled by security personnel after hitting Abe.

The Okayama venue required those who attended the speech to register their names and addresses. It was confirmed that the suspect's name was not included in the registration information. It was reported that the Okayama venue did not use metal detectors for physical inspection .

Temporary change of schedule resulted in insufficient security

At around 11:30 local time on July 8, Shinzo Abe gave a campaign speech on the street near Yamato Saidaiji Station in Nara City to canvass votes for the Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the Senate election. There were not many audience members at the venue, about 30 people. A minute or two after the speech started, the suspect Tetsuya Yamama shot Abe twice from behind with a homemade gun. Abe was shot and fell to the ground and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment, but eventually died from his injuries.

Based on Japanese media reports and live videos, Tetsuya Yamama fired the first shot from about three meters behind Shinzo Abe. Abe was stunned for about a second after hearing the gunshot. It seemed that he had not been shot, and then turned his head to look behind him. Tokiyama Tetsuya fired again, and Abe fell to the ground. From the first shot to the time when the security personnel took control of Tetsuya Yamama, the whole process took about 7 seconds..

According to overseas reports, the Nara Prefecture Branch Federation of the Liberal Democratic Party revealed that there were 22 people responsible for security work at the scene of the incident, including 7 special police officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Nara Prefecture police, and 15 from the Prefectural Branch Federation. Staff members are responsible for security and security duties. In this regard, Yuji Yoshikawa, the former detective of the Metropolitan Police Department, said that judging from the results, it can only show that there was a mistake in the police. Yoshiki Akutsu, president of the Japan Bodyguard Association, also said that the guards at the scene lacked the understanding and ability to grasp the surrounding situation.

Former Saitama Prefecture Saitama Prefecture Yasuhiro Sasaki, who has rich experience in protecting important figures, analyzed by the Japanese media AERA dot and pointed out that the special police (SP) dispatched by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were responsible for monitoring Abe's front, and the response was no problem, but the Nara police's Security loopholes: It can be seen from the video footage that is behind Abe, and it seems that no one is monitoring the situation behind him with his back to Abe.

64-year-old Yasuhiro Sasaki runs a crisis management consulting company in Saitama Prefecture. He believes that another main reason for the security breach is that Abe temporarily changed his itinerary the day before, resulting in insufficient security preparations. He told Japan's "Sankei Shimbun" analysis that under normal circumstances, security personnel should check the event site and surrounding areas one day in advance to check where suspicious persons may be hiding. It is possible that these preparations were not made before Abe was attacked this time.

According to overseas reports, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party relevant sources said that Abe originally planned to go to Nagano on the 8th, but canceled the plan on the 7th afternoon and decided to go to 33 prefectures of Nara, Kyoto and Saitama the next day.

According to reference news, the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported on July 9 that although the Japanese police authorities did not announce the security deployment in detail at the time, experts believe that security during the Japanese election campaign was more difficult than in other countries. There is still considerable room for improvement in gun security. The police authorities also urgently need to improve the security system.

According to reports, Abe was standing on a platform tens of centimeters high when he was assassinated. At that time, many people gathered around. And there are dozens of police and election staff . According to Japanese practice, current cabinet ministers and former prime ministers must be accompanied by "security police" arranged by the Metropolitan Police Department's Security Department to provide security services. Japan's "security police" system began in 1975. The then Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki was violently beaten by a strong man on the street. Since then, Japan has established a "security police" system based on the special protection model of the US president.

A former policeman who ran a security company, who asked not to be named, told reporters that "security police" are required to wear body armor and carry batons. Abe, who has been prime minister for many years, should obviously be one of Japan's highest-level security targets. On the day of the event, Abe was accompanied by the local police of Nara Prefecture and the "security police" of the Japan Metropolitan Police Department. It is said that they also confirmed in advance whether there were any safety hazards at the scene. But at the speech site, the speaker usually stands at a high place to preach, and even shakes hands with voters before and after the speech. A policeman who has performed election security tasks told reporters that this makes it more difficult to guard Japanese election propaganda.

In addition, due to Japan's strict gun control policy, the number of people killed in shooting incidents every year rarely exceeds 10, and most of them are gang members. Therefore, security work does not expect a high probability of shooting incidents.

Hidetomo Koyamauchi, head of the Asian region of the International Security Association, said that the security of Japanese dignitaries focuses more on defense training with knives and blunt weapons, while the European and American sides focus more on shooting . European and American countries will not only confirm the safety of the scene in advance, but also pay more attention to the hand movements of people around them, and even deploy snipers . In Japan, which has very strict gun control, it has to be said that the police authorities have loopholes in guarding against shootings, and the security level is qualitatively different from that in countries such as the United States.

Hidetomo Koyamauchi said that if fences and roadblocks are set up during election campaigns to prevent suspicious persons from approaching, voters will feel alienated, making it difficult to take such measures. In the United States, where guns are rampant, dignitaries usually block traffic and close the windows of surrounding buildings when giving speeches outdoors, and check the luggage of people attending the event in advance . However, under Japan's political culture, it is difficult to adopt such strict security measures. .

Annual personal security costs exceed 200 million yen

According to Japanese government regulations, as a former prime minister, the Japanese government will not continue to equip Shinzo Abe with special guards, secretaries, drivers and other accompanying personnel. But because Abe is still a member of parliament, he can hire about three secretaries and have the government pay for them.

Image source: Visual China

In fact, even after retiring from the post of prime minister, Shinzo Abe’s private security force has always been very sufficient, demonstrating his continued influence in Japanese politics.

According to Japanese magazine "Women's Own" reported in November 2020, after Shinzo Abe resigned as prime minister, his private residence had a total of about 30 security personnel. The average annual income of the police is about 7 million yen. Based on this calculation, Abe's annual security expenses alone exceed 200 million yen (nearly 10 million yuan) in labor costs.

AERA dot's report also pointed out that a Metropolitan Police van was on standby outside Abe's private residence 24 hours a day, roadblocks were set up on the road leading to the residence, and police patrolled all day long. In contrast, Taro Aso, , who is also the former Prime Minister of Japan, lives only a few hundred meters away from Shinzo Abe’s private residence, but there is only one policeman at the police station in front of the door.

It is reported that after Shinzo Abe stepped down as prime minister, he will still be equipped with Japanese security SWAT team members who specialize in protecting political figures. This special police team is affiliated to the Security Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and has about 200 people, referred to as SP. The members of the SWAT team are selected from the 40,000 police officers under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and are among the elite members of the police.

Known as "Japan's No. 1 female bodyguard " Ishida Moemi has become popular on the Japanese Internet because of her sweet appearance and excellent technical skills. She is a member of the SWAT team and has served as bodyguards for former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Abe. There are online reports that Moemi Ishida was also at the scene of the shooting, but this has not been confirmed by authoritative media.

Generally speaking, sitting prime ministers, ministers and political party leaders are protected by special police. Yasuhiro Sasaki said that Abe's special police protection is very good, although the official did not disclose how many special police officers are responsible for Abe.

Yasuhiro Sasaki believes that if the event was in the Tokyo metropolitan area with abundant police force, the attack should be able to be prevented with more SP special police protection. He said that if a politician goes to a rural area, it is likely that only one SP special police officer will be on duty, and the rest will be supplemented by the local police.

According to the "Tokyo Shimbun" report, on the afternoon of the 8th, a person in charge of the Japanese National Police Agency stated that the security plan was basically formulated by the Nara Police Department. He said he could not disclose the detailed staffing.

reporter | Li Menglin

editor | Duan Lian Tan Yu covers source

proofreading | Wang Yuelong

Part of the content is synthesized from CCTV News, Reference News, Global Network

| Daily Economic News nbdnews original article |

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